Keegan Lenker's Musings....

Nicaragua Day #7

The team is currently safe and healthy and the Lord is using the team to meet needs in an amazing way. They have, however, encountered one challenge after another to the point that they are exhausted beyond words but they are doing their best to make thoughtful, savvy, prudent decisions regarding all of their resources. The heat has been scorching, horrendous rain storms with no protection, and the electricity is out at the camp, bug infestations - one challenge after another. 100 people tried to take shelter under a small tin roof yesterday during a terrible storm. Last night they paid a $300 electrician fee for the camp to fix the electricity and they still don’t have electricity.

With the electricity out, the water pump does not work, the kitchen is down and people are not able to shower or have a good meal. She has made the decision to move to a Best Western in Managua for safety and health reasons, however the hotel does not have space until Friday so the team will tough it out until then. At the hotel, they will be 30 minutes from the work points so will travel back and forth each day. People need a shower and a meal as soon as possible.

She is further asking that we mobilize prayer for the release of the container, the health and safety of the team, the release of nutritional products, protection against dehydration and heat exhaustion and the elements. She is hoping the SS classes will mobilize for prayer for the team. The team wants to be found faithful and serving as best they can. They obviously need our prayer and support now.

Nicaragua Day #5

Hi everyone, I'm so sorry that it's taken this long to post as this is the first opportunity I've had to post anything. I'll give you a run down of our situation: We are still without out container. Our container contains some things we need, but we are making due with what we have.

Our first few days saw major thunderstorms and while we were at the worksite, we learned that thin sheet metal can keep you mostly dry. The medical team is making due because some of their supplies are also on the container. It has consisted of eye exams, height and weight of children, basic care until we can get what we need. Our first village is fairly remote from where we are. We have to walk about 1.5 miles to and from the buses because the path is too worn away. After our rain, it turned into some trudging through quite a bit of mud. The work crew is powering through the school and the rain holds that up a bit.

The VBS crew hangs with the children in the Iglesia del Nazareno which consists of a few boards and some sheet metal with a sign. Our camp is quite nice, but we've dealt with some fleas and the bugs and humidity are much more difficult than in Guatemala.

Our parks cannot be built until we get the container which it appears will be tomorrow.The parks crew is ready to built as that proves to be a very visual way to see significant change in a short period of time. We're hoping that we can start on Wednesday.

The group has been amazingly flexible and adjusted well as obstacles arise. There is minimal sickness at this point and we are treating that as needed. We attended a church yesterday with some people here in Tipitapa and it was great! Everyone had a good time and then enjoyed good old Papa John's Pizza for lunch and a bit of shopping.

You can pray for the arrival of the container in our possession as we believe the materials on there are resources God intends for the people of Nicaragua. Pray for health for the members and pray that as we experience the face of Jesus that we can receive the transformation he desires to give to us.

You're loved.